most tender. “You didn’t hear half of the ugly things he’s said about you. He couldn’t stand you, Dee. You think that just goes away? Hell, you wouldn’t even watch Dark Castle because the memory of him was so repugnant to you, and that was only a few months ago.”
Her words fall over me like hot tar, sticking and burning. She has to know she’s hurting me. That she’s willing to do it to get her point across hurts too. “That’s really unfair, Sam. People grow up. I grew up. Macon did too.”
“This is what I’m talking about! You’re letting your guard down. Macon will use it to his advantage.”
“Why? To what purpose?” I shake my head and huff out my exasperation.
“To use you as bait and lure me back home.”
“Then take the bait,” I snap. “Come back, and end this.”
And then we’ll know. A trickle of fear goes down my spine. What will happen if she returns?
“I will. Soon.”
“That isn’t good enough. I have to tell him you called.”
“No! Don’t you dare!”
“Why not? He should know.”
I can practically hear her thoughts racing.
“He’ll get in an uproar again, and it’ll be relentless. You tell him, and I’m not going to come back.”
“Oh, that is low.” I can’t punch Sam, so I punch the padded arm of the chair. “Really low.”
“Am I wrong? He’ll be back in a black mood, gunning for me.”
She’s not wrong.
“If you’re unwilling to leave that house . . . ,” Sam begins, making it sound like a question.
“I’m not leaving. I made a promise.” I don’t tell her the other truth: I don’t want to leave. Not yet. I’ve grown attached to this place, to Macon. Is that a weakness? Stupid of me? I don’t know. Sam’s muddying the waters even more.
“That’s what I thought,” she says. “So don’t rock the boat. I’ll come back as soon as I can. And I’ll bring Macon his damn watch. But don’t you dare fall for his act, whatever it might be.”
Sorry, sis. I’m already falling.
“You’re being melodramatic.”
“Am I?”
“Yes. And I’ll give you a month. After that, I’m telling him.”
A month is more than generous. Even though I feel like a traitor to Macon by keeping this secret.
“Fine,” she says. “But I’ll know if you tell him.”
That’s why I’m agreeing to this. Because he’ll absolutely start up texting her again. He’ll want her to return immediately. And like before, his threats and texts won’t bring Sam back. She has to do that for herself.
I feel small and irritable and suddenly don’t want to hear the sound of her voice. I can’t believe I’ve been anxious to get a call from her. “Just get your ass back here with the watch.”
“I will,” she promises with a drawl. “And you remember your past. Remember who Macon is.”
She hangs up, and I’m left holding the phone in my numb hands. Remember who Macon is? Or who he was?
Sam’s phone call festers. I try to shake it off, but her ugly words keep playing over in my head. I can’t rid myself of them. They remain even when I go to my happy place, the kitchen. They ring around my head like an unfortunate earworm as I chop onions, my eyes smarting and watering.
“Shake it off,” I mutter, patting at the corner of my weeping eye with my sleeve. “They’re just words. Doesn’t mean she’s right.”
“Are you crying?” Macon stands at the entrance to the kitchen, a frown on his face. For a moment, I simply look at him, remembering the bronze of his skin, beaded with water, the way he came in my hand with a groan that seemed ripped from the deepest part of his wide chest.
My face blazes with heat. He must notice; a slow, lopsided smile unfurls. Those inky eyes hold tenderness and mischief.
“Onions.” I set the knife down and go to wash my hands and splash my face with cool water. “This one is particularly fierce.”
He takes his time walking over to me, that small pleased smile playing on his lips. And here I am, jumpy as a cat with fleas. Stopping before me, he reaches out and gently touches my cheek, catching a water droplet I missed when I dried my face. I try not to flinch. But I do.
The frown returns. “You all right?”
I know he’s asking about more than the damn onions. “I’m good.”
The frown remains. “Something is on your mind.”
It isn’t a question. That jumpy, twitchy, ugly feeling grows nearly intolerable.
“What is it?” he